


Of Missed Opportunities and Lost Hope

by verovex



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Additional Tags to Be Added, Angst, Grief/Mourning, Loosely AU with KH Backstory, M/M, circa 2012, reposted from FFnet
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-23
Updated: 2017-10-23
Packaged: 2019-01-21 05:00:28
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 18,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12450153
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/verovex/pseuds/verovex
Summary: Sora doesn’t cope well from all the guilt that resonated with him after the events of Kingdom Hearts, and Riku makes the decision to walk away when he can no longer help his best friend; even though he understood he’d never stop loving Sora, and their paths were forever meant to be intertwined.





	1. Terrified

**Author's Note:**

  * For [superkawaiifreak](https://archiveofourown.org/users/superkawaiifreak/gifts).



_“Riku, come home_.”

“We’ve been over this a hundred times, I’m not coming home.” The black cell phone attached to Riku’s ear was being tempted to be thrown from his balcony, and onto the street if the voice on the other end didn’t _stop talking._  “Not today, not ever.”

 _“But he’s... deteriorating_.”

“He’s been slipping away for four years, I don’t think it makes any difference if I come home or not.”

“ _It does make a difference! I haven’t seen him smile in three years, coincidentally when you moved away_!” The nagging tone on the other line was all too familiar to Riku. He lifted the phone away from his ear as the voice continued to drown on about missed opportunities and lost hope. “ _Riku? Riku! Are you even listening to me_?”

“I hear you loud and clear, Kairi.”

“ _Then give me one good reason why you won’t come home_.”

“Because my life is much better here.”

“ _Why_?” She sounded defeated now; all sense of motivation to bring Riku home was starting to dissipate, like her used-to-be best friend was just a lost cause. He was never coming home.

“There’s no darkness here.”

“ _The darkness is gone here, too_.”

“Not when I look at him.”

Two things happened then; there’s some deep grumbling and the click of a phone hanging up, yet Kairi was still on the other end and she quickly started to call someone’s name while ineffectively trying to cover the speaker on the phone.

“ _Shit_.” Kairi blurted out as she fumbled with her house phone, “ _he was listening_.”

“Good.”

“ _He needs you, Riku_.” Kairi murmured, her voice bouncing in octaves as if she was walking down a flight of stairs.

“Then he wouldn’t have pushed me away.”

“ _He can’t help it_!” Kairi cried out as she appeared to reach the bottom step. “ _You know he didn’t mean for things to happen the way they did.”_

“Honestly Kairi, do you hear yourself? We’ve had this conversation a dozen times and the answer is always the same. If this involved _anyone_  else who had mistreated me, you would never call me to try and force me to make amends, you’d tell me I was better off, but because it’s _Sora_ , you’ve got the biggest blinders, and I can’t have this conversation again. It _ending_ was _healthier_  for both of us, he would’ve ended up killing _both_  of us if I had stayed.”

Riku walked back through the door from his balcony into the kitchen, and tentatively paced around at the spot in front of his fridge. Kairi had phoned him while he was in the middle of making breakfast; she seemed to have forgotten there was a three hour time difference between the two of them. It may have been ten o’clock in the morning where she was, but it was only seven o’clock where Riku was. Riku looked over at his neglected bowl of cereal, no doubt soggy and inedible by now.

“ _But he still loves you_.”

“Man, it would be really nice if one of these times you would call just to ask me genuinely how I am.” Riku sighed heavily into the receiver. “But, it’s too bad I can’t say the same.”

“ _That’s an outright lie and you know it Riku. Don’t you dare say that_!” Kairi’s voice had escalated from annoyed to angry; Riku’s patience was growing thin.

“If I were lying I would’ve said I still love him too.” Riku ran his thumb over the _End Call_ button and before he would be compelled to converse further with Kairi, he pressed it. He tossed the cell phone onto the kitchen table, ignoring the abused clunk it made when it landed.

Riku walked over to pick of the bowl of cereal off his marble counter and stopped by the sink to effectively dump the milk with a spoon holding back the soggy contents. He dumped the rest into the garbage. His appetite was gone now. He looked around the dining area and sighed. His kitchen was big enough to fit a whole variety of guests, and it normally did. The large table that was now pressed into the corner could easily fit eight people. Frequently, it accompanied many bodies, whether it was for Riku’s infamous parties, or just for general get-togethers. Riku left the kitchen to circle his living room; three leather sofas lined the walls on one side of the large room, while a large flat-screen television hung against the wall opposite to the sofas. Riku plopped himself onto one of the couches, and slung his arm over his eyes.

He immediately regretted ever answering when the caller ID had said Kairi’s name. He hadn’t talked to her in months, and he wasn’t interested in hearing what she had to say. He was almost done his internship at the most prestigious medical school that Hollow Bastion could offer, and he was more than content with the money he was making. Riku was constantly being offered positions at other medical institutions; he could very well have a job anywhere he wanted, but he was just fine where he was; so long as he never had to go to Destiny Islands ever again, he was fine. He had a great job. He was making plenty of money. He was _happy_. His life was perfect. He wasn’t lonely. He had plenty of friends. He was happy. He could find someone to love here. He could find light here. He was _happy_ here.

It didn’t stop a tear from falling.

Riku slowly brought himself out of the slump that Kairi had put him in and lifted himself from his couch. He walked back into the kitchen and picked up his cell phone, which was blinking red. It blinked several colours depending on who was texting him, red was meant for people he didn’t _want_ to text him.

‘ _Don’t pretend like he doesn’t mean anything to you. You both went through too much together to pretend like it never happened. –Kairi_ ’

Riku sighed, again feeling like he wanted to throw the phone out a window. He debated on blocking Kairi’s number, but knew she would probably find some other way of getting a hold of him. Riku brought his hands up to his hair, his fingers weaving through the lengthy silver locks. Why did he have to come back to this shit? He just wanted out. He never wanted to think about _him_ anymore. He didn’t want to feel stressed anymore. He didn’t want to _feel_ like he owed _him_ anything anymore. He didn’t owe _him_ anything anymore. There were no more words to be said; everything was said and done. Riku had shoved it to the back of his mind like every other memory, and never intended to re-live it.

He didn’t want to think about how he had given into that ridiculous darkness six years ago, with no thought to the repercussions of the people around him. He didn’t care that his best friend had desperately followed him. He didn’t care that his best friend had fought through armies to get back to him. Riku didn’t care that he had sacrificed himself to embody himself with Xehanort’s heartless for said best friend. He just didn’t care anymore. They had returned to the islands four years ago, and tried to move past everything that happened. His best friend openly forgave Riku and confessed that he regretted not being there for Riku more, and that no matter where Riku would go, said best friend would follow.

Riku pushed the memory away, feeling like he totally contradicted his intention of never re-living these memories. He walked the short distance to his bedroom and opened the door. He looked around his walls and sighed. Bare and light blue, just like they had always been. His walls in his room at his old home were littered with posters and pictures. This room was boring, but it was a distinction that Riku liked. This was his new life, it wasn’t necessarily boring, but it certainly wasn’t overly stress with stimulation.

He pulled open one of the drawers to his dressers, and pushed some of his shirts aside to find what he was looking for. He pulled out the decrepit laminated photograph that had been taken three and a half years ago, when things were… more than fine.

“ _Just let me take a picture of you!” His best friend cried, having desperately tried for the past hour to take a picture of Riku._

_“No.” Riku smirked, enjoying how difficult he was purposefully being. “Not unless you’re in it.”_

_“You’re so frustrating!” The brunette continued to whine, setting up the tripod to attach his expensive, gifted, digital camera. Riku watched as his friend set up the timer and then raced to his side. “But, if this is the only way I’ll get you to take a picture…”_

_Riku smiled, listening as the digital camera counted down. He grabbed hold of his best friend’s waist and yanked him into his lap. The brunette let out a yelp, but Riku (trying to make the best of his time) lifted a pale hand to the younger’s chin and pulled him forcefully into a kiss as the camera went click, flash! They held the kiss long after the photograph was taken, both too entranced with each other to care. Eventually the younger pulled away, a tinge of pink on his cheeks. He started to whisper under his breath, but the words were jumbled and incoherent._

_“What, Sora?” Riku asked, his finger tracing Sora’s jaw._

_“I love you!” Sora blurted, but quickly covered his mouth. They had been together for five months and neither of them had said those three words yet. Riku stared at the brunette completely dumbfounded. “Oh… I’m sorry. I should’ve waited until you said it.”_

_“No… I love you too, Sora. Forever and always.” Riku said and a sigh of relief escaped Sora’s lips._

_“Forever and always sounds nice.” The brunette smiled warmly and got up from Riku’s lap to get his camera. “Let’s get this developed! One for you, one for me!”_

“Forever and always…” Riku whispered to no one in particular, the words bouncing off the walls of his empty bedroom, “…sounds naive.” _Maybe to you, but it meant everything to him_. Riku tossed the picture back into the dresser and slammed it close.

His mind was racing now, with no end in sight. It was all Kairi’s fault, sending him twenty steps back. It had been months since he even thought of Sora. He kept himself distracted enough to not even realize what he was missing in life. He had condensed four years of university into a fully-packed two years instead. He earned every scholarship he had applied for. He got accepted into several medical schools, but he chose Hollow Bastion. Leon had happily made a recommendation and was helpful in getting Riku settled in the refurbished, bustling city. They needed the doctors here, seeing as how the city had lost much of its population. Five years since that heartless war they had come a long way. The whole city had been rebuilt, but that wasn’t very hard with magic on your side.

Riku had purposefully left everything behind, and he wasn’t going to sit back and listen about how he had made a mistake. As far as he was concerned, he was done making mistakes. Getting involved with Sora _again_ would just be another mistake.

“ _Hey Riku…” Sora lifted his head from Riku’s lap, choosing to rest his weight on his elbows._

_“Hm?” Riku held his arm over his eyes, the sun far too bright for his liking, but Sora had pulled him outside despite his wishes._

_“Do you ever think about… the darkness?” The brunette’s voice was hesitant, as if scared of the answer._

_“What kind of question is that?” Riku asked back, his arm tensing._

_“Do you ever think of opening the door again?”_

_“Again, what kind of question is that?” The silver-haired teenager scowled._

_“Answer me!” Sora croaked out._

_Riku finally took his arm off his eyes and sat up, his malachite eyes widening at Sora’s face. The brunette was utterly distraught, stifling back tears. “Sora, what’s wrong?”_

_“Why can’t you answer me?!” The brunette yelled, a single tear finding its way down his cheek._

_“I don’t see why it matters! Don’t you trust me?”_

No, Sora didn’t trust him. They had confessed their feelings to one another, said that they could move past the events that had happened, and move on to a bright future… but the brunette didn’t even trust him enough to realize Riku would never abandon him again. They’d been together for six months when the arguments started; the arguments about nothing and everything.

“ _Where are you going? What are you doing? Who are you going with? When are you coming home? Why don’t we spend any time together? Why is everyone more important than me? Why don’t you-? Why didn’t you-?_ ”

Riku would’ve never been unfaithful, or would’ve ever lied to Sora. He never wanted him to feel as worried as he did, but he’d done nothing to cause it. Sora was utter perfection to him, there was no one else. He didn’t care to look at anyone else. He didn’t see anyone else being significant enough for his affection. The beautiful brunette was everything Riku needed to be happy in life.

But Sora didn’t even trust him.

Everything was a question that eventually turned into an argument that eventually turned into Sora not talking to him for days on end. It didn’t matter the many reassurances Riku would try to give him, the brunette wouldn’t hear any of it. All that mattered to Sora were his insecurities, and his obscured false realities.

“ _Why can’t you trust me_?”

The question that to this day remains unanswered. Sora never had a reason. He just chose not to believe, and Riku thought Sora was the last person to ever lose his belief. However, things were a lot more complicated than Riku had ever thought they had been. There were reasons why Sora had become the person he had; reasons which to this day remain unexplained and merely assumptions, but there were subtle hints and events that expressed who Sora was within a year of them coming home.

“ _Let’s go swimming! We haven’t gone in months!” Riku asked, forcing happiness through his voice._

_“No thanks.” Sora replied, the tension still thick from their earlier argument about why Riku had come home so late. It wasn’t Riku’s fault that he was stuck working alone, but obviously Sora didn’t want to hear about his excuses._

_“Why not? You used to love going swimming.” The silver-haired teen sighed and lifted a hand to graze Sora’s jaw._

_“The water reminds me of them.” Sora whispered; Riku barely caught it, but the low words had been heard._

_“Them?” Riku tried to say as if he had no clue what Sora could be referring to._

_“Forget about it.”_

Yet, Riku couldn’t forget about it. He knew exactly what Sora was worrying himself over. Old battles, unsaid words, and unheard apologies – Riku knew exactly what was going on in Sora’s head. The brunette may never have realized it, but Riku knew every thought going on in Sora’s head before he did. He didn’t need Sora to say that he felt guilty for being involved with the massacre known as Organization XIII, but Riku knew better.

The brunette was killing himself over guilt about lives lost – lives that were never supposed to exist to begin with, but Sora was too nice of a person to forgive himself for something that easily. He could put on a mask around everyone but Riku and Kairi. Slowly but surely, the depression sunk in. Sora started to seclude himself from everyone around him, and the arguments with Riku were daily.

For another five months Riku dealt with it. He dealt with Sora being verbally abusive. He dealt with Sora’s tears. He dealt with Sora’s slight physical abuse. He dealt with Sora’s lack of caring towards his studies. He dealt with Sora’s mood swings. He dealt with everything, but at one point Riku needed to decide what was more important – his own happiness and future, or the happiness of the person he loved? Riku had always known the answer, but he had truly hoped Sora would get out of his self-deprecating slump, and return to being _Sora,_  before Riku would ever have to come to his decision.

But Sora didn’t change, and Riku chose his dreams. He didn’t have the heart to face Sora, and left him a letter and was gone before anyone could say _don’t leave_.

Hollow Bastion was his home now. Every day was predictable. Riku woke up, showered, ate breakfast, went to school, studied, and either came home to watch movies with fellow interns or went out drinking. There were no arguments or heart-wrenching insults. Riku didn’t feel like he was babysitting a lost cause anymore. He didn’t feel like he had a broken doll attached to his hip.

Riku knew he should’ve given Sora more credit than he wanted to, but he was bitter for the months he had tried to make Sora understand why he had chosen darkness. His mood was sour whenever Sora decreed his lack of trust and poor motivation to believe in their relationship. Relationships weren’t meant to be that unhealthy, at least that’s what Riku thought. He thought they were meant to be full of love and appreciation for one another. Sora and his relationship had never truly been like that.

The teen had been more than relieved for the weight off his shoulders, but it did come at a price. He knew he meant everything to Sora, and worried everyday that the brunette would do something stupid, but as far as he knew (through Kairi) Sora hadn’t. Kairi hadn’t always been very observant, and Riku was certain the brunette was probably hiding something from everyone, but Riku wasn’t going to go back to find out.

So long as Sora was alive and breathing, that was all that mattered.

Riku went searching for his cell phone and picked it up, ignoring the text from Kairi. He dialled a familiar number; a chipper voice picked up on the other end: “ _Hey Riku_!”

“Yuffie,” Riku replied, “wanna go out tonight?”

“ _Duh! Let me phone the others and we’ll meet up in the late afternoon sometime, sound good_?”

“Yeah, sure.”

“ _You okay_?” Yuffie asked, knowing Riku’s sad tone even when he tried to disguise it.

“Just got an interesting phone call this morning.”

 _“We’ll make sure you forget all about it soon enough, ‘k_?” Riku could practically feel the prod in his shoulder through the phone.

“Yeah, thanks Yuffie.”

“ _It’s what I’m good for_.”

Riku heard the line go dead and slid his phone into his jean pocket. Yuffie understood more than anyone else did. She knew Riku didn’t want to get into a long, droned out discussion about his problems, she would just get him sloppily drunk instead. Everything long forgotten by the end of the night, and when they woke up in the morning, she’d give him a pep talk, and they’d move on like it never happened. These were the friends Riku needed; these were the moments he needed.

It didn’t matter that he was missing out on the lives of his loyal friends back on Destiny Islands; they all had their own separate lives by now. They couldn’t be bothered to remember the boy who was tempted to destroy their worlds. Riku was happy to be accepted here, leaving Destiny Islands behind was the best decision he could’ve made.

The hours passed, and Riku soon found himself at Yuffie’s apartment with a number of laughing, joyously drunk people. These were the friends Riku would’ve never thought he’d be associated with, seeing as how they were much older than he was, but he came to realize they were valuable assets in this game called life. Leon, Cloud, Tifa, Yuffie, Yuna, Rikku, Paine, Aerith, and Cid were all seated around the room, sharing their fair share of alcoholic beverages.

Although Riku couldn’t remember it, he was certain they left Yuffie’s apartment to a local bar, where the music pounded and he ingested more than the limit his body could handle, and he was certain that after odd flirtations, obnoxious comments, drunken injuries, and awkward stumbling, he made it back to Yuffie’s apartment in one piece.

“Why don’t you want to go home anyways?” Yuffie asked when she and Riku were the only ones left in her apartment the next morning.

“I don’t have anything to go home to.” Riku shrugged, popping an aspirin into his mouth and swallowing it with water.

“That’s not what Kairi says…”

“Why are you talking to Kairi?” Riku sneered.

“Don’t worry about it. I think you need to stop avoiding him though, Riku. Fess up to your feelings already.”

“What feelings?”

“Don’t play dumb.”

“I’m not playing dumb. Honestly I don’t see why you guys keep thinking I can’t be in love with anyone else other than him. Don’t people go through multiple people before they find the person they want to be with for the rest of their lives?”

“You haven’t been on a date since you moved here.” Yuffie said knowingly, successfully shutting Riku up.

“Yeah… well… maybe I haven’t found someone I want to date yet.”

“Yeah, because he’s on another world.”

“No. I don’t know who I want to be with, but I know it’s not him.” Riku turned to grab his stuff and leave, “and stop talking to Kairi, she doesn’t know anything.”

* * *

Riku tossed his clothes onto the floor and looked around his apartment for the umpteenth time in the last twenty-four hours. This was his life now… there was no doubt about it.

He was happy here.

Everything was fine here.

There were no useless fights.

No hopeless discussions.

No darkness.

No irresponsible adventures.

No longing kisses.

No nights wrapped in sun kissed arms.

Everything was predictable.

No sensational, shocking surprising moments.

No sparks.

Nothing.

Riku curled his fingers into his hair, pulling at his roots. He couldn’t go back; not after leaving like a coward, _again_. He was almost surprised Sora hadn’t come after him, like he had once promised. But that just proved their relationship didn’t matter to the brunette as much as it had meant to Riku. Obviously Riku was just something for Sora to use for awhile, and then be done with. Like his muse… and since their adventure had ended and everything, Sora was strained for any excitement in their relationship, and obviously arguing was the most excitement their relationship would see.

_That’s it._

_Try to pretend._

_Try to pretend you don’t care._

So, for another two years, Riku didn’t care. He used Yuffie’s words as a challenge and went on several dates. He even went so far as to have a few one-night stands, but Yuffie started to get annoyed when they were all at her apartment and she was feeding breakfast to strangers in the morning. Eventually it was easy not to answer the phone when Kairi called, and it was even easier not to feel a tingle when his thoughts occasionally turned to Sora.

The memories started to disappear, buried in the back of Riku’s mind, permanently there; like the darkness of night, but the sun pulls apart the darkness when day breaks.

‘ _This is morning, that’s when I spend the most time thinking ‘bout what I’ve given up, this is a warning_ …’ Riku muted his ringtone as he checked the caller ID on his phone.

 _Kairi_. Riku looked at the time; it would’ve been three in the morning where she was. Either she was drunk dialling him, or it was something urgent… but he really didn’t want to pick up. But what if something was wrong? The phone continued to flash her name until it stopped vibrating in Riku’s hand.

“Well, if it wasn’t very important, she won’t call again.” Riku justified, seeing as how whenever she phoned she only tried once, and if she didn’t get an answer, she didn’t try again.

‘ _This is morning, that’s when I spend the most time thinking ‘bout what I’ve given up, this is a warning…_ ’ Riku frowned, seeing Kairi’s name again on the screen. She wouldn’t try twice if it wasn’t important.

“Hello?” Riku answered hesitantly.

“ _Oh, Riku… thank god_.” Kairi’s voice was rushed and muffled.

“What’s wrong?”

“ _He’s missing!_ ” Kairi took a deep breath. “ _Sora’s missing. He hasn’t been home in days, and I don’t know what to do. His mom doesn’t know what to do… none of us know what to do_.”

Riku felt his phone slip from his hands, crashing onto the floor. He clenched his eyes shut, listening to the thoughts as they scurried through his head.

He was going into his residency at the hospital. He was going on a date in two days. _Sora was missing_. He was supposed to meet up with friends at a bar in ten minutes. He hadn’t been home in five years. His home was in Hollow Bastion. His friends were here. His future love was here. _Sora was missing_.

_Try to pretend you don’t care when you hear that._


	2. Broken

“ _Do you remember when things used to be simple_?”

Silver-hair blended in with navy silk sheets as the body underneath twisted and turned. Aquamarine eyes blinked profusely into the shadows, slowly adjusting to the room’s tenebrosity. Riku threw the bed sheets off himself and swung his lanky legs around to hang loosely from the mattress.

“ _I remember, it was before the darkness and before the heartless… things were easy. Do you remember, Riku_?”

Riku could remember – those years where all that mattered were plastic toys and wooden swords; those days where all that was important was counting stars and incomplete homework; those precious seconds of stolen glances and unspoken words. Sure, it had been easy to hide his feelings for Sora. Riku had barely understood those feelings back then… and he more than doubted Sora would’ve known what to do if Riku had confessed to having some longing crush on his best friend when they’d been younger. That longing crush eventually turned into something much more than either could’ve imagined possible, and yet in the end they still wound up without each other.

Sleep had been hard to find.

It had been three days since Kairi’s phone call, and Riku still didn’t know what he wanted to do about it. He could do nothing and ignore it like he had been ignoring everything else for the past five years. Ignoring incessant phone calls and texts from Kairi… ignoring stray stares and millions of missed flirtations from other males and females unless Yuffie forced him into making a move… ignoring the feeling in the pit of his heart like a chunk was missing… ignoring how in three days that pit had expanded to feeling like it was sucking his whole body into a black hole.

Every breath seemed to tighten in his throat before he was able to release it. Every heartbeat was loud in his ears. All his senses were heightened. He was more alert than ever – especially when his phone rang, desperately hoping it was Kairi saying that Sora had actually just gone on vacation and everyone forgot, or Sora had fallen asleep in the middle of nowhere and forgot to wake up; everything seemed more logical than the brunette having gone missing.

“Fuck.” Riku muttered into the darkness, he held his pale hands in front of him, examining how they wouldn’t stop shaking. “This isn’t what I wanted. I never asked for him to disappear.”

* * *

“What are you going to do?” Yuffie examined her face through Aerith’s compact, pushing stray layered hair out of her eyes. She had let her hair grow over the years, the length exceeding her shoulders. She had lost her headband, in favour of letting her bangs hang loose. The old item had long been forgotten, cast away in one of her dresser doors; it was just another piece of evidence that she used to be childish. At least that’s how she explained it to Riku… except a lot more elaborate.

“Well I have to make an incision into his skull and then…” Riku started to say.

“Ew! Please stop! That’s not what I was even asking about!” Yuffie stuck her tongue out and threw her hands in front of Riku’s face as if to emphasize the need for him to ‘shut up now!’

“But we were just talking about my first teaching surgery, what else could you be fucking asking about?”

“Sora! What are you going to do about SORA? S-O-R-A! You know, that guy you won’t talk about with me despite you still being in love with him? That guy that’s gone missing and yet you fail to show any emotion about it WHATSOEVER?” Yuffie closed the compact shut and tossed it towards Aerith’s purse. The brunette had left to answer a phone call, leaving Yuffie alone with Riku for far too long at the café they were situated at.

“He’s not my responsibility.” Riku said simply, treating the subject with pure irritation. His gaze tilted towards the sky, finding certain curiousness about the clouds above him.

“What if I told you I leave for Destiny Islands tomorrow to help look for him?” Yuffie asked, earning a rather disgruntled noise from the silver-haired male and then a deathly glare that said _how dare she be so traitorous_.

“I’d say you’re a lying bitch.”

“Well at least you’ve got me pegged right.” Yuffie smirked, triumphant to receive some emotion from her best friend.

“I’ve always had you pegged.” Riku smirked back; he had a knack for knowing people too well sometimes. He knew when Yuffie was lying to him, he knew when people were hiding things from him, and he knew what strangers were like before they even knew his name.

He had known Yuffie couldn’t possibly be going to Destiny Islands without him; as much as she had a personal liking for Sora, she also had a sort of loyalty to Riku too, which meant not trespassing on past relationships. Riku was the under that same loyalty with her though, which meant he couldn’t kick the asses of Yuffie’s ex-boyfriends no matter how they had hurt her.

“So what did Kairi say?”

“You’ll have to be more specific. Kairi says a lot.” Riku answered sarcastically, enjoying the look of annoyance that crossed Yuffie’s face.

“What did she say they were doing about finding Sora?”

“Don’t know, don’t care.” Riku deadpanned, while lifting a styrofoam cup filled with luke warm coffee to his lips.

“The more you act like you don’t care, the more I think you do.”

“Then you don’t have me pegged right.” Riku said with the cup still at his lips and his eyebrow arched.

“Don’t–” Yuffie started.

“Sorry about that guys, overseeing everything at the hospital doesn’t give me very much downtime.” Aerith pulled the chair from the table and practically collapsed into it. Her brown hair was completely pulled back into a bun as she cradled her head in her arm against the table. Her light green eyes glanced from Yuffie to Riku, quickly noticing the tension that hung in the air. “What’s wrong?”

Yuffie huffed and crossed her arms over her chest, “Nothing.”

Riku smirked, putting his cup back on the table and feeling rather elated and victorious against the black-haired girl across from him, “Yup, clearly nothing.”

“It’s clearly something.” Aerith opened the lid on her drink and looked somewhat repulsed, “ugh, cold coffee does not taste good.”

“Have you heard anything from Destiny Islands lately, Aerith?” Yuffie asked quickly.

Riku jolted and the table briefly shook; Aerith looked at the silver-haired male confusedly before hearing Yuffie’s scream of pain, the brunette twisted her head towards the other female, her eyes filling with concern. “Yuffie? Are you okay?”

“Seriously?!” Yuffie screeched, clutching her leg, and glaring Riku. “What is wrong with you?”

“I didn’t do anything.” Riku said innocently, tilting back in his chair defensively.

“Riiiight.” Aerith drew the word out as she looked between the two. “No, I haven’t heard anything about Destiny Islands lately, why?”

Riku threw the ebony haired girl a look of caution, but Yuffie avoided looking in his direction, “because Sora’s gone missing!” she cried out and then quickly wrapped her arms over her head and lifted her knees onto the chair, desperately taking every measure to duck from Riku’s wrath.

“You little–” Riku’s eye twitched slightly.

“Sora’s missing?” Aerith stood alert from her chair and pulled out her cell phone. “We have to phone and talk to his mom and find out what’s being done. Afterwards we need to phone Leon and book you and him the fastest flight Merlin can offer out of here. Now.”

“Aerith!” Riku whined, stretching across the table and grabbing at her cell phone. “I can’t leave. I have a teaching surgery tomorrow, and they can handle things themselves over there.”

“W-what?” Aerith lifted her cell phone away from Riku, mid-dial. “You and Sora were best friends. You may have dated and it ended poorly, but he was a part of your life… an important part of your life at that. You can’t seriously _not_  be worried about him! I would’ve expected more from you. You’re a hero to all of us, and so was Sora. You should be the first one over there looking for him!”

“He’s not my responsibility. They have people that can look for him.” Riku said quietly, dismissing Aerith’s words.

“I’m cancelling your surgery tomorrow. You’re going home.” Aerith commanded and proceeded to dial her cell phone, a voice appeared to answer on the other end, “Paine? Re-schedule Riku’s surgery tomorrow with another resident.”

“Aerith!” Riku dragged out the brunette’s name. Her hand shot up to silence him.

“OK, thanks Paine.” Aerith shut her phone closed and gave Riku a stern look. “You’re going home Riku, it’s for your own good. I’m not even confident in your capabilities as a doctor with this sort of stress.”

“W-what? I’m not stressed!” Riku pushed his chair backwards and stood, his eyes wide with outrage. “And I’m not going home!”

“You are and that’s final.” Aerith stated in her motherly tone. “And you can lie to us all you want, but we know better.”

“But–” Riku continued to whine, he looked to Yuffie for some sort of relief, but she held an aura of satisfaction with a sly grin plastered to her face. “I don’t want to lose all my hard work here.”

“Riku, your position has remained permanent at the hospital since you became a doctor. You will still have a place here whenever you come back.” Aerith reassured, although it wasn’t reassurance Riku needed. He knew he always had a place at Hollow Bastion’s General Hospital. He was best in his class, aced all his exams, performed to peak performance on all his surgeries; he had a gift, and no matter what sort of modesty he could hold in front of people, he had formed an ego with his specialty.

“I really don’t think this is necessary, Aerith.” Riku stiffened; his whiny tone gone, replacing it with a much more serious one. “I don’t feel stressed at all… It’s been five years since I’ve even talked to Sora; we barely exist to one another now. I’d be the last person he’d want to be found by.”

Aerith looked to Yuffie who shrugged her shoulders and then back to Riku. Aerith gave him the once over, taking interest on the bags underneath Riku’s eyes, the tousle and frizz to Riku’s normally sleek and shiny hair, the darker aquamarine to Riku’s normally bright eyes, and then to Riku’s normally pressed attire which was wrinkled and carelessly thrown together. His baby blue dress shirt was un-tucked over his black dress pants, both pieces of clothing looked like they needed a washing.

“Riku, you look like _shit_.” Aerith stated, drawing her eyes back to the young male’s face, “I don’t know what mirror you’ve been looking into lately, but even a stranger could see that.”

“I haven’t been sleeping well; it doesn’t mean I’m stressed.” Riku brushed the comment off.

“Why can’t you just admit that you’re worried?” Yuffie perked up, breaking her silence from the past few minutes. “We’ve been your friends for years, you know you can trust us with anything, we can give you all sorts of advice, and you don’t have to do everything alone!”

There was a moment of silence between the three of them, both sets of female eyes burrowing into Riku’s. The silver haired male stood his ground, his aura still giving off its careless glow. He sighed after a few minutes and turned his head to scan inside the café, “I’m not trying to fight some emotion back. I’m not trying to be a bad friend by not sharing every thought that goes through my head. I’m not trying to suppress some inner demon that’s still after Sora’s heart. I can trust you guys with anything, but I don’t need your advice. There’s nothing left for me there.”

Yuffie opened her mouth and then closed it. There was nothing to be said after that. Riku had made his point, and despite the ebony haired girl seeing through the male’s exterior, she couldn’t pry on his inner interior. Even after five years, she had made no progress with getting Riku to admit his feelings. She had sat back and observed his antics and mannerisms over the years and had come to the conclusion that this cold-hearted, quick-witted, sarcastically-comical, and rarely-smiling Riku was just a protective shield put up to stop anyone from getting to the real him. She had tried to get to it herself, but to no avail. She had tried to set him up with people she thought could break down that wall, but Riku just used them until he found they had no use to him anymore and that was the end of any potential relationship.

At the end of the day he was still ‘shielded Riku’, and early on Yuffie had let it register in her mind that the only person that could possibly bring out a happier Riku was Sora. But any possibility of bringing out happy Riku was shrouded in both boys’ stubbornness to move on from whatever mistakes they had made and admit their undying love to one another. However, Yuffie had never gotten to the bottom of why their relationship had ended on a sour note, or why they never talked. Riku wouldn’t breathe a word about it to her or anyone else. It was just another wall Yuffie couldn’t break down. She hated being best friends with someone who couldn’t even talk to her, but their friendship was still deathly beneficial to her life. Riku gave her hope whenever she had been kicked down. When boys told her she wasn’t worth their time and broke her heart, Riku was there to say otherwise. When her parents admitted that they thought she was a failure and would never amount to anything, Riku was there to make her persevere to prove them wrong. Riku was always there. So, of course he was her best friend, but sometimes she wondered if it was the same vice-versa. She always thought best friends could tell each other everything, but Riku was still a mystery to her.

“Well, aside from that slew of bullshit, Leon is still coming to pick you up tomorrow morning at seven.” Aerith pocketed her cell phone and rolled her eyes at Riku’s irritated facial expression. “I’m not giving the surgery back to you either way. I’m also banning you from the hospital until you go back to Destiny Islands, so you may as well get it over with.”

“You can’t ban me from the hospital!”

“It’s only until you get back.” Aerith smoothed the hair on top of her head.

“Fine… but it doesn’t mean I’ll even go see them…” Riku muttered under his breath.

“Good luck with that. I’ve instructed Leon to escort you to Sora’s house personally and see to that everything possible is being done to find him.”

“It’s been fifteen minutes since Yuffie even told you! How did you do all of that?”

“Magic.” Aerith smiled.

“She’s the chief of everything, what do you expect?” Yuffie pointed out. “Well, we should take you home and get you all packed up for your big trip Riku!”

“I’m seriously not going.”

“I think you’ll find Leon rather persuasive.” Aerith’s smile grew, but it wasn’t warm and gentle, rather maniacal if Riku had to put a word behind it. “I wouldn’t assume locking your door will be enough to keep him out, just by the way.”

“You guys are too much.” Riku rolled his eyes, which were barely visible behind his bangs. “Fine, Yuffie let’s go.”

* * *

“You’ll need a bunch of shirts, pants, underwear…” Yuffie picked up a round glass bottle from Riku’s dresser and pressed on the spray, a strong cinnamon scent filled the room, “hmm, and this cologne should do… maybe something formal…”

“I’m going to be gone max three days. You don’t need to pack like I’m leaving for a month.” Riku sat against the wall next to his dresser, tossing a rubber ball back and forth with the opposite wall. Upon receiving no response from his best friend, he looked up at her still form, which was clutching a familiar rectangular item that he hadn’t looked at in years. “Yuffie put it down.”

“How can you say you feel nothing towards him when you still have this?” Yuffie turned on her heel abruptly and threw the photograph towards him, “he’s missing Riku! He could be dead for all you know, hasn’t that even crossed your mind? Somebody could be holding him for ransom against his will, threatening his life! He could be getting tortured… or worse! Don’t you even care?”

“No.” Riku said simply, picking the photograph off his chest and tossing it towards his bed.

“He still loves you!” Yuffie clenched her fists into tiny balls, her miniscule hands shaking with adrenaline, “and personally I don’t see why you’re so worth it to him!”

“You don’t know anything!” Riku yelled back, standing from his spot, easily looming over the rattled female. “Don’t say that when you don’t even know what he’s like!”

“How the fuck am I supposed to know anything when you won’t even talk to me!” Yuffie fought back, shoving Riku’s shoulder.

“There’s nothing to talk about!”

“Apparently there’s a lot to talk about!”

“Shut up.”

“Fine. Dig your solitude hole, see where it leads you.” Yuffie spat, turning on her heel and leaving the room.

Riku heard the loud bang of his front door slamming shut and knew she was gone. He climbed onto his bed, pulling the photograph tight to his chest as he let his eyes drift shut. He felt bad for doing this to Yuffie, he knew she deserved a better friend, but he didn’t know the words to express how he felt inside. How was he supposed to describe a love he couldn’t even understand? How was he supposed to decipher the feelings he felt about Sora possibly being gone forever? The only things that made sense in his life were the chemical structure to the frontal, occipital, parietal, and temporal lobes, the human anatomy, and how he could cut into any normal human being without killing them. After all, curaga could only do so much by mid-day; at the end of the day it was Riku’s job to remove disease and tumours. It was his job to finish the job magic couldn’t, so feelings and emotions were the least of Riku’s concerns. And now that he was given the time to let emotions and feelings sink in, they were going to rip him to shreds.

He already felt bad for pushing Yuffie away through the years, knowing that she deserved some sort of explanation for his mood swings and poor rapport with exes, and knowing she was only trying to help by setting him up on dates. It just never felt right, being with someone else. Whenever he touched someone else, whenever he kissed someone else, whenever he fucked someone else, it felt like a stab to his heart, and in the back of his mind a petite brunette would appear and flood through his thoughts, interrupting any sort of pleasure Riku was supposed to be feeling.

The raw memory of Sora stopped him from having a real relationship, no matter what he tried; it constantly felt like he was cheating on someone he wasn’t even with anymore. Riku had run away from Destiny Islands thinking Hollow Bastion could push all those thoughts away, like a fresh start. He thought Sora could easily be extinguished, but the loveable brunette was like an eternal flame, surviving through the worst conditions and the harshest winters, and when Riku was at his worst, Yuffie had been there to bring his spirits up.

He may never admit it to her (but he probably should) he admired her deeply. She was always optimistic no matter what was thrown at her, she was always willing to share her feelings and work through them. She had made much more progress in her life than Riku ever had, on an emotional level. Even though he obtained his dream job, his dream home, every aspiration, he was still alone. He still felt horribly alone and in love with another dream; a dream that had ended in nightmare, and every day he had hoped he would wake up to a different story. Some days he hoped he would wake up next to Sora, it being five years prior, Kingdom Hearts freshly demolished, the brunette permanently happy, never abusive or cynical. But this was his story, the happy ending nowhere in sight. He was currently damaged and mangled, possessed by an allegiance to someone who may not even remember he exists.

That was a thought that truly made him not want to go back to Destiny Islands. What if Sora didn’t even remember him? Or just barely remembered everything they went through. Surely it was a stupid thought, but it wasn’t out of the realm of possibility. After all, Riku would’ve never imagined Sora going missing, but that happened. So what if Riku did return to Destiny Islands and helped look for the brunette and even helped find him. What if the brunette looked at him like a stranger? What if he didn’t feel an ounce of affection towards him any longer? Sora was the one who admitted his feelings for Riku first… how could he forget him?

“ _I’m happy we found each other.”_

_“I was always with you Sora, you know that.”_

_“But you weren’t there like I needed you. I wanted you more than just in my heart or memories.”_

_Riku flushed, Sora’s hand was grazing over his, the roughness of stray sand tingling against his skin, “I’m not going to leave you again.”_

_“Promise?”_

_“Promise.”_

_“What if I told you I wanted to be more than just friends?”_

_“What?” Riku could feel the breath catch in his throat. “I wouldn’t say no.”_

_“Alright… Riku, can we be more than just friends?”_

Of course he wanted to more than just friends. Years of hidden infatuation and devotion, that day would forever be ingrained in time; he had finally got his chance to show Sora just what the brunette truly meant to him. It’s too bad it ended poorly, Riku was a great boyfriend and that was the last time he was a great boyfriend.

Riku stood from his bed, inching towards the mirror that hung overtop of his dresser. He really did look like shit. He glanced down at the partially filled luggage bag and continued Yuffie’s attempt at helping him pack. He placed the photograph under all his clothes, feeling like he didn’t want to leave it behind. When he was done that, he voted for showering, seeing as how he really didn’t want to shower at six in the morning and Leon probably didn’t want to sit in a plane for four hours with a rancid Riku. He plopped down into his bed afterwards, glancing at the clock. It was only 10 o’clock. He grabbed his cell phone and figured he may as well apologize to Yuffie.

‘ _I’m sorry Yuff, please forgive me_.’ Riku quickly texted, after a few minutes his phone chimed with a response.

‘ _Only if you promise to tell me one day._ ’ Riku’s lip curved into a smile, mood considerably lightened by the fact Yuffie couldn’t hold a grudge.

_‘I promise_.’

‘ _Good. Don’t annoy Leon too much, and try not to do anything I wouldn’t do.’_

_‘Just what wouldn’t you do?’_

_‘Har har…’_

Riku placed his phone on his nightstand, setting the alarm for six-fifteen the next morning. He knew he was barely going to be able to sleep though, so what was the point? He couldn’t deny he felt a little excitement in that he was going home, but it was for the most unbelievable reasons. He debated on letting Kairi know he was coming home, but he figured an element of surprise was better. Riku sighed, checking his analog clock for a second time, it was only ten thirty. Riku curled his fingertips through his wet locks, he wondered briefly if he should get a haircut before he went to Sora’s. Perhaps he’d just put it in a ponytail.

‘ _Am I really having an inner conflict about the way I look?_ ’ Riku thought to himself, proceeded to grumble to himself and flipped himself over on the bed. ‘ _I really hope he’s not dead or kidnapped… stupid Yuffie_ …’

* * *

Riku gazed out over the gummi ship platform, a little sceptical of the new contraption Merlin was directing him into. It was definitely too early for this. The gummi ships had come a long way since Sora, Donald, and Goofy first used them. They looked much more advanced; having replaced gummi blocks with aluminum alloys, but the inside of the ships remained true to the gummi style. Merlin had said this new ship was meant to drive faster than any other gummi ship, and for that reason alone Riku was worried. Most of Merlin’s newer projects didn’t fair well.

“Can’t we take a normal one?” Riku asked disdainfully.

“No! I need guinea pigs, and this is the perfect opportunity!” Merlin said excitedly, almost tossing his blue magician’s hat off his head.

“Really Merlin, I don’t want to be a guinea pig, can’t Chip and Dale do it?” Riku pressed on, he looked to Leon for support, but the taller, older male was busy examining the machine with interest.

“Where are the missiles stationed?” Leon asked, peering into the tinted windows.

“They’re hidden within the machine until you tell the ship to fire! Isn’t that great?” Merlin beamed, running over to point out where the guns would come out and proceeding to do a fake battle by shooting at the air and then falling to the ground in defeat. Riku couldn’t understand how someone so old could have so much energy.

“You can’t be seriously considering taking an experimental ship.” Riku frowned disapprovingly at Leon.

“I don’t see why not.” Leon smirked, opening the latch to get into the gummi. “You coming? I have strict orders not to leave you behind, and I don’t want to see an angry Aerith.”

“Right.” Riku cautiously climbed into the gummi and took the passenger seat next to the controls. He placed his luggage in straps against the wall of the ship. An overly exuberant Leon climbed into the pilot’s seat, started the ship, and without warning pressed full-throttle out through the portal. Riku clutched onto the seat handles, nearly tearing them off as the ship sped through the pathways between worlds.

The silver-haired male chose to close his eyes; feeling like nothing horrible could happen if he didn’t have his eyes open to watch. They went three hours like this and again without warning the ship suddenly plummeted downwards. Riku’s eyes flew open as the ship came to a gentle and soft landing at Destiny Islands, an hour ahead of schedule.

Riku quickly unbuckled himself from the gummi seat and dove outside, his knees crashing into warm sand. After regaining his breath and letting his heartbeat slow, he slowly stood up and turned back towards the gummi ship. Leon had let it land flat on the beach close to the main downtown district of Destiny Islands. The water slowly crashed against the immobile machine; while Leon closed to, and tossed Riku his luggage.

“I really don’t see why you’d ever leave this place.” Leon said, gazing out to the water. “It’s beautiful.”

Riku couldn’t deny how Destiny Islands was a paradise to any newcomer, but to him it was filled with a certain dread he could live without. The air was fresh and inviting, smelling like ocean salt with a hint of city life just on the horizon. The sky was bare, pure blue; the accompanying beach was void of life, looking as elegant as far as Riku could see. And then there was the familiar port, a familiar port with make shift wooden boats that barely sustained any real weight, tied to the port’s wooden posts. Riku’s eyes drifted across the ocean, briefly surveying the island where most of his poorer memories resided. It was then that Riku wondered if anyone had gone there to look for Sora, but wouldn’t that be an obvious place to look?

“How does it feel to be back here after five years?” Leon suddenly asked.

“This place hasn’t changed.” Riku replied, walking down the shore, his shoes feeling awfully uncomfortable walking in the sand. It probably would’ve been a smarter idea to wear sandals. He wrapped the strap to his luggage around his shoulder and regretted over-packing. He turned to see where Leon was and discovered the brunette was nowhere to be found. “Leon?”

“Up here.” A voice called from the other side of the beach, Riku looked over to see Leon walking on cement, a much better idea than Riku’s. The silver-haired male groaned, all that extra energy for nothing seeing as how walking in sand wasn’t as easy as one may think.

They walked in silence down the sidewalk, Riku leading the way towards a set of townhomes along the shore. They came up to a familiar street and the younger male stopped, staring uncertainly at the houses in front of him. There were twenty houses on this street, one of them was his parents, one was Kairi’s, and one was Sora’s. There were several vehicles in front of the brunette’s house, and the closer they got to the house, the more the pit in Riku’s stomach threatened to implode. Riku placed his hand on a lamp post for support, feeling like the lump in his throat was about to jump out and sure enough it did…

Riku spewed the contents of his breakfast into a nearby shrub, desperately hoping that whoever’s garden he just threw up in hadn’t seen. He wiped the excess puke from his mouth, turning to meet the concerned face of Leon.

“I’m fine.”

“Of course you are.” Leon said sarcastically and pulled out a pack of gum from his pocket and throwing it towards Riku. “Keep it. So, I take it Sora’s house is the one with all the cars in front of it?”

“Yeah,” Riku replied, placing a piece of gum in his mouth as they continued to walk down the street.

“Are you sure you can do this?”

“I still haven’t said I want to be here, so what do you think?” Riku said irritably as they walked up the porch to Sora’s house. Riku timidly raised his hand to knock on the oak door, but withdrew his hand. “I don’t think we should do this.”

“We’re already here.” Leon outstretched his arm to knock loudly on the door.

All hope of running away before anyone realizing they had come disappeared as someone opened the door and swung their lanky arms over Riku’s shoulders in a desperate hug.

“Riku! Riku’s here!” The person shrieked, her hold tightening as Riku tried to inch away from her.

“C-can’t breathe, Kairi!” Riku tried to pull the girl off of him, her vice grip preventing any escape. “Seriously, get off!”

“Oh Riku, you don’t know how happy I am to see you.” Kairi detached herself, raising her wrist to wipe away a tear from her eye, her voice cracking as she spoke, “you’re exactly what we needed.”

“Kairi…” Riku couldn’t help pulling Kairi back into a tight hug; the redhead proceeded to cry against his chest. Her hair was a dull red now, probably from stress. She was still thin and frail as she had always been, but her style had changed. She wore jeans and a loose fitting low-cut white t-shirt. Riku pulled her in front of him with his hands outstretched, resting on her shoulders, and leant down to her height as he looked her in the eye, “I’ll find him, okay? If you smile, I swear I’ll find him.”

“Promise?” Kairi laughed through her tears, rubbing them onto her wrist.

“Promise.” Riku reassured, pulling her into another hug. “I’m sorry for letting this happen.”

“It’s not your fault…” Kairi muttered, “We all could’ve done a lot more.”

“I left for five years; I could’ve done a hell of a lot more.”

“Yeah, but I’m not trying to hold anything against you.” Kairi smiled again, pulling away from him, “you should come inside. The others are here too, and I’m sure Sora’s mom will be ecstatic to see you.”

Riku nodded and followed her inside; Leon had already walked inside and introduced himself. Riku breathed in deeply as he stepped around the corner into the living room, expecting the worst. Several loud shouts boomed around the room, each saying individual salutations to the new arrival.

“I’m so glad you came.” A voice called over the loud chatter, as two long arms enveloped around Riku.

“It’s nice to see you too, Sarah… given the circumstances.” Riku hugged the closest thing to a mother he had. “I’m sorry for getting here so late.”

“Its okay, Riku. You’re here now, that’s all that counts.” Sarah let him go, and pulled her long brown locks behind her ears. She had the exact same hair colour as Sora, but her hair was long and flat. Sora’s dad’s hair was spiky and out of control, but his hair was a dark brown. Sora had his mother’s eyes, the exact colour to be specific. It was haunting.

“So, what’s being done about Sora’s disappearance?” Leon asked, looking around the room.

“Why don’t we have something to eat first? I’m sure your trip wasn’t pleasant. Riku looks pale.” Sarah said knowingly, overlooking Riku’s thin frame. She left the room to the kitchen to make snacks, leaving everyone else in the room to stare at the silver-haired friend that had disappeared for years.

“Hey stranger,” a female voice stated.

“Long time no see,” a male’s voice said sternly.

“Think you owe us an explanation, Ri.” A third voice finished.

“Hey guys,” Riku said, feigning total confidence to his old friends. Tidus, Selphie, and Wakka stared at him with a look of almost detest. “I’m sorry for not keeping in touch.”

“You better be.” Selphie said warningly, the other two nodding. “You can tell us all about your fab life when you’ve helped us find Sora.”

“Yeah, of course.” Riku smiled slightly. The room drew an eerie silence as they waited for Sarah to return with snacks. Riku inhaled, taking in the same scents he had missed for years. This was a home he adored, a home he definitely had missed. He peered over at the staircase that he knew led to the upstairs, and the second door on the left was Sora’s room…

“I don’t have much, just some cookies and veggies.” Sarah re-entered the room and placed a platter of food down.

“It’s a perfect combination, thanks Sarah.” Leon said warmly, motioning for her to sit beside him on the couch. “So, what’s being done about Sora’s disappearance?”

“Well, we phoned the authorities the second day Sora hadn’t come home and they searched all over the island and the outer smaller isles, but they didn’t find anything.” Sarah frowned, “they’ve put up posters and tried to contact other worlds, but they told us to just hope that he’ll just... come home.”

“Was Sora being weird or anything the days before he went missing?” Leon continued.

“He was just being himself. Nothing too out of the ordinary…” Sarah answered, “But to be honest these past few years I haven’t been entirely in tune with him.”

“We’ll try to find him, okay?” Leon placed a hand on Sarah’s shoulder, earning a smile from the worried mother.

“I know Riku will.”

* * *

Riku paced around the living room, it was the middle of the night. Everyone else had gone home, and Sarah offered the guest room to Leon and offered Sora’s room to Riku. However the younger male was definitely not going anywhere near Sora’s room. He couldn’t bring himself to even go up the stairs. He knew he probably should, seeing as how Sora could’ve left some sort of clue as to where he had gone. Riku had started to highly doubted the brunette had gotten kidnapped, or was being held for ransom, Destiny Islands was too small and tame. Riku took a few steps towards the stairs, the inevitable overcoming him at three thirty in the morning.

“Come on, he wouldn’t have left without some sort of clue!” Riku seethed and pressured his body to move forwards. Eventually he stood before the set of stairs, and slowly rose his foot onto the first stair. He wasn’t ready for this. He took his foot off the stair. _But he had promised Kairi_. He placed his foot back on the stair and pressed forwards. He was doing this for Kairi and Sarah. Riku slowly but surely made it up the stairs and passed the first door on his left and came up to the second. His hand shook as he reached for the doorknob and snapped his hand back like he had just been burned. _People were counting on him_. He closed his eyes and went for the doorknob again, finally finding the strength to push the door open.

Riku slowly opened his eyes and stepped inside, his heart briefly stopping as he breathed in a scent he had missed far worse than this house. Sora’s aroma was everywhere, the sweet smell of cherries and chocolate. He could never understand how something could smell so good, but it was one of the many things Riku always loved about Sora. All those unique things he couldn’t find in anyone else. He flicked the light switch on and his heart stopped again. Sora’s room hadn’t changed. The brunette was still horribly disorganized; his bed unkempt, his books lying on the floor, his dresser overflowing with clothes, and the wall beside his bed was littered with photographs. All of them of Sora and Riku, the silver-haired male frowned, feeling guilty for ever thinking Sora could forget about him. He knelt onto Sora’s bed, his fingers grazing over all the memories he had kept locked inside. The pictures were all glued to Sora’s wall, each with their individual symbolism. Riku continued to finger the pictures until one of them unexpectedly fell, landing on the mattress beside him.

This picture wasn’t like the rest, it wasn’t a memory. It didn’t even have to do with him or Sora. It was black. At least… most of it was. There was some odd shading that was a darker blue and purple colour compared to the black tinting the rest of the picture. The blue and purple shading were round in nature and from what Riku could make it there was stone flooring in the picture, which meant it was a picture of some _place_.

Riku jumped off the bed and held the picture up to the light; he knew exactly what this picture was of, and this was the closest thing he had to a clue. He raced down the stairs taking two at a time and grabbed his shoes. He looked through the closet at the front door and grabbed the flashlight he knew Sarah kept. He ran out the door and towards the port. He grabbed the rope off its handle and tossed it into the boat and cautiously climbed inside. As fast as he could he paddled towards the separate island he hadn’t even been on in over five years. He jumped off the unsteady boat as he reached the sands. He flicked the flashlight on and shined it around the silent island, ignoring the nervousness he felt being there. He walked up towards the forts they had spent years building and inched towards the waterfall he had known all too well. He pushed forwards, ignoring the water as it splashed over him. The flashlight spun quickly around the cave, passing over moss, cobwebs, and vines. He inched towards the wall with the picture he always hated and paused, running his hand over the face of a younger Sora feeding a younger Kairi paopu fruit. He stood and ran the light around the cave once more.

Did his first clue really end here? He let the light rest on the picture of Sora and Kairi again. He sat down against the cold cavern floor, the feeling of defeat sinking it. Yet, he could feel like Sora had been here, somehow. He let the flashlight fall onto the ground and that’s when Riku noticed the odd formation of stones against the wall different from what he remembered. He pulled at one of the stones and it rolled into his hand easily. He placed his hand inside the crack and pulled out a new piece of paper.

“Another picture?” Riku looked curiously at it, tilting it sideways as if expecting a note to fall out or something similar. He placed the photograph in one hand and grabbed the flashlight.

He shined it over the picture and frowned – four bells hung on either side of a large clock, a familiar sunset glow looming over the large building.


	3. Emergency

 

The picture was an enigma, the longer Riku stared at it, the more riddles formed in his head about how to go about it. He knew that it was Twilight Town. That high tower that overlooked the city was the most memorable thing about the city – aside from the obvious troubles Riku had faced so many years ago. The darker the memories, the further suppressed they were. It took months to find a balance of how to control the darkness with the light in his life, and to be honest Twilight Town was one of the worst places he could go. He could already feel the tingles of sombre repercussions for bringing back all these tempting thoughts – thoughts of following the picture, following it back to Twilight Town, following Sora.

Riku slowly rose from the cold stone floor, casting one last glance around the dimly lit cavern. Sunlight cascaded through the waterfall, sending just slivers of light down the passageway towards the sullen male. He hadn’t even realized how long he had been sitting there, simple considerations and possibilities running amuck through his mind like wildfire. This cave in itself held a darker retrospect, as Riku thought back to a certain stormy night… He clenched his fists, feeling a familiar but particularly unwelcome aura taking over.

Why the hell was any of this coming back? This stupid cave. This stupid picture he held in his hand. He didn’t want this. He didn’t feel the necessity to go after the stupid kid who got himself lost in the first place. It was ridiculous. Why was Riku expected to be the knight in shining armour? Because once upon a time Sora was? Now it was his responsibility? No. That’s not how it works. Riku’s sighed deeply, looking down at his fists still in tight balls, both covered in a certain dangerous violet and black energy. He quickly loosened his hands, shaking off the negativity. Chasing after Sora was a bad idea, it was becoming evident that after years of assuming a certain darkness was under control, these emotional spikes were key to releasing it – and Riku didn’t want that.

He promised to himself and Sora that he would never give in to that again, it was like an unwanted addiction, the way it made him feel. It was like a drug he swore to give away, and after years of being able to forget it, certain emotions brought a particular allure to the concept behind darkness. It would be so much easier to find Sora that way; he could just close his eyes, summoning the power to track him down… no matter what world the brunette was on. Riku could already feel his mind drifting, his eyes slowly closing, his heart tightening against his chest, the cold rush spreading through his veins, the shadows creeping closer…

“ _I never want to see you give in again_.”

Riku let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. The shadows scattered, relieving the silver-haired male. He brought his hands up to rub against his eyes, and chuckled slightly while holding in the need to scream. As if he had nearly come so close to letting himself go, again. As if this situation had brought on such repulsing urges; sure, it would be easier to feed off the darkness just to find Sora… it would take less time than it would following a bunch of pictures.

“ _The only reason you’re you again, was from finding the balance between light and dark._ ”

Riku pushed the newly found picture into the deep end of his jeans pocket, looking around the cave one last time. Picking up the flashlight from the floor, he slowly made his way out of the cave and around the waterfall instead of through it. He blinked repeatedly, his eyes adjusting to the new light on the island. Along the horizon Riku could see the oncoming storm clouds, threatening to destroy whatever peace was currently on the island. He didn’t want to be here when the storm came.

He was a little shocked his boat was still on the sand, figuring it might’ve drifted off with the tide by the time he got back to it. He slowly pushed it back into the water, carefully hoping inside, and in the process remembering just how many times getting into the boat was one of the hardest things to do with Sora when they were younger.

“ _Hey, what do you think will happen if we fall into the ocean?” The seven-year-old brunette questioned, staring across the ocean with a hand lifted to his forehead to shield his eyes from the sunlight._

_“You’ll get eaten.” Eight-year-old Riku answered bluntly, being the sole person pushing the boat back into the water. For an eight-year-old it wasn’t particularly easy. Sora had a habit of walking away when the older boy needed physical help._

_“Eaten by what, though?” Sora asked timidly, walking closer to the water, slipping a foot in. “It’s like when mom says don’t talk to strangers, what’s so bad about strangers? What’s so bad about the water? You never actually see anything.”_

_“Sora, you think too much.” Riku let go of the boat, looking over at his friend._

_“Don’t tell me you don’t think about things too.” Sora pressed a hand to his heart, stepping further into the water._

_“Come on, we have to get back home.” Riku reached out towards the wandering brunette, having to pull him back from going too deep into the ocean._

_Sora nodded simply, following the silver-haired boy out of the water and back to the boat. He helped his older friend shove it into the water, and Riku as per usual, held it for Sora to get in first. The brunette tipped it back and forth, causing Riku to lose his grip slightly. “Can’t you ever get in without us getting wet?”_

_Sora laughed lightly, pulling a paddle from the middle of the boat and placing it against the top of the blue abyss. The boat sunk slightly as Riku climbed in and grabbed his paddle. They slowly made their way back to the shore on their home island, Riku having done most of the work. Sora slid his paddle out of the water and watched as Riku steered them closer to the dock._

_“You know it’s not easy doing all the work all the time.” Riku rolled his eyes._

_“If every star is a world, doesn’t that mean there are millions of worlds we don’t even know about?” Sora asked suddenly, carefully eyeing his friend to see what he was thinking._

_“Yes, if every star is a world, there would be millions.” Riku replied knowingly, “doesn’t it make you want to explore every single one?”_

_“Maybe one day we will.” The brunette said cheerfully._

If only Sora knew the extent of his words. They had gotten their wish. They got to experience worlds they never even knew existed. They made friends, they made enemies, and most of all they grew up on those worlds. And yet when nightfall came and the stars shone bright, there were still millions of unexplored territory waiting to be found by the two of them. There were still hundreds of adventures to experience. There was still growing up to do, but Riku was alone. Sora was alone. That wasn’t how it was ever supposed to be.

They were never meant to drift. There was never supposed to be some darkness that ever threatened to destroy their friendship. The competition between them was never supposed to expand into a war. But Riku had wanted to leave first. When Sora found himself capable of talking to Riku about other worlds at such a young age, the silver-haired boy’s fascination grew at an exponential rate. However Sora’s fascination stalled, of course he still cared… but when Riku wanted to leave the island – to find someway of doing it, Sora didn’t want that. He went along with it, saying ‘Sure, Riku, let’s build a boat out of here!’ or ‘Sure, Riku, I still want to go to other places.’, but the brunette was lying. His fascinations lay with making new friends and school, specifically their new friend Kairi.

“ _Hey, why don’t we finish the raft today?” Riku asked, recently turned fifteen and curiosity at its peak. He prodded the brunette’s shoulder, seeing as how Sora didn’t even acknowledge his question. He kept staring off in Kairi’s direction, the girl currently preoccupied with talking to Selphie and Tidus. “Do you have a thing for her, Sora?”_

_That sparked his interest; a fourteen year old Sora quickly became defensive, “As if!” He scoffed, crossing his arms over her chest. “She’s so weird.”_

_“Not really. She’s really nice.” Riku muttered, taking offense to Sora’s speculation about Kairi._

_Sora sighed, “Yeah, I know. I didn’t mean for it to come out that way.”_

_“So, do you like her?” Riku questioned, his heart in his throat, completely preparing himself emotionally for whatever came next._

_“No.” Sora said bluntly, “She’s so pretty and she’s a great friend… but it’s more interesting trying to figure her out. It feels like we still don’t know her as well as we could.”_

_“What do you mean?”_

_“Well she must be from a different world, right?” Sora asked, “You don’t just fall from the sky and think you were born here.”_

_“If we finish the raft we could find out where she came from.” Riku pressed, wanting desperately to leave._

_“Maybe we can just figure it out from here.” Sora suggested, “It’s a lot of work to leave all of this behind. Plus, I don’t think Kairi really wants to leave the island.”_

_“Since when was Kairi ever apart of our plans to leave the island?” The silver-haired teen could feel the tightness in his chest, an eruption of fear and anger expanding over him._

_“Come on Riku… we made these plans when we were kids. You didn’t actually think we’d grow up and still want to leave, did you?”_

_“I still want to leave.”_

_“I don’t.”_

_“Why?” Riku could feel the hurt spreading over him. He’d been waiting for his day to leave, to get rid of this place._

_“We’re not kids anymore.”_

Riku had dreamt of the day he’d finally be able to leave Destiny Islands, with Sora in tow. They’d get a brand new start, they’d grow up together, and they’d get closer together with every passing day and new experience. But Sora changed. Suddenly Destiny Islands was his one and only home. Suddenly leaving was no longer as exciting to him as it used to be. Riku was devastated. He couldn’t think straight, he couldn’t understand, he felt like he just lost the most precious thing he had ever held dear, and Sora didn’t even notice.

Sora didn’t bother noticing until it was far too late, until it was a dark and stormy night, fitting perfectly for the trouble Riku was about to walk into. When his judgement was clouded, when all that mattered was hurting Sora back for hurting him, when all he wanted was to leave and Sora to desperately clamber after him. When the darkness circled Riku, when the heartless came, when he caused the destruction of their so-called home, Riku was happy and didn’t care. His smirk was wide as Sora ran towards him, calling his name, telling him not to go, it was exactly what Riku wanted – to hear that Sora cared, to know Sora would be forced to follow him and finally go on their adventure.

It was all for selfish reasons, but Riku couldn’t help it. He was fifteen on a spiral of emotional turmoil and lost whatever morals he once held when his best friend told him his hopes were childish. The repercussions for his immature actions weren’t what he wanted though. He never wanted Maleficent to control and influence him the way she had. He never wanted to fight Sora. He never wanted to be swallowed whole when Sora sealed him in the realm of darkness. He never wanted to be forced to find a balance between the light and dark in his heart, because he thought he would never have to face such a dilemma in the first place.

They were just supposed to go on a regular adventure, hiking through the worlds. He never meant for it turn into what it had. But it did, and Riku couldn’t take it back now. He took the guilt in stride, and eventually it was easy not to worry so much about the pain he caused. Except now, knowing Sora was missing he couldn’t help but feel like he had more reason to feel guilty. For all the worry and pained expressions on everyone’s face back at Sora’s house, he couldn’t help the feeling that this was his fault, as much as he didn’t want to admit it.

Riku trudged through the water back to the shore, tying the boat to the dock once he had reached it, and took a lingering glance back at the island he had just revisited. Everything was getting more difficult with the way he looked at it. He couldn’t go back on his promise to Sarah or Kairi… that would be like running scared for another time, and he had already surpassed the allotted times one person could do such a thing. Riku noted the storm clouds were getting closer, and if he didn’t get back to the house soon, Leon would make them stay there for another night until it passed.

The silver-haired male rushed back to the house, bursting through the door, to be met with a pained, shrill scream. Riku recoiled, bringing the door back slightly to see who he had just managed to knock to the floor.

“Yuffie?” He asked, looking down at his dark-haired friend.

“To think I came here to see if you needed help, and this is what you do.” Yuffie grumbled, rubbing her head and lower back as she glared at him.

“You came all this way?” Riku smiled, offering her a hand.

“Obviously.” Yuffie murmured, taking her friend’s hand as he pulled her to her feet. “Kairi phoned me and said you weren’t even in the house this morning, so naturally I got worried and came looking for you. I was just about to leave to take on that hefty mission.”

“Well, I’m here now.” Riku stated, and stuck a hand in one of his pockets to take out both the pictures he had found. “And I think I know where Sora was last.”

“You’re a regular Sherlock Holmes.” Yuffie snickered. “Merlin gave me some reading material on my way here; he said it was from another world he had visited. He has all sorts of them!”

Riku nodded slightly, not caring in the slightest for Yuffie’s own discovery and shoving the two pictures into her hands. She gave them the once over and shrugged. He probably should’ve registered that was what was going to happen… even if he had shown Leon or Sarah, they both would’ve had that same confused, unknowledgeable expression on their faces. After all, Riku was the one who had travelled through all sorts of worlds, he was the one who had been giving the opportunity to recognize certain areas without hesitation. However, Sarah had been stuck on Destiny Islands her whole life. She probably wouldn’t have even recognized the dark cave.

“What do these have to do with finding Sora?” Yuffie finally asked, after turning the pictures over as if to look for some sort of explanation.

“The first one I found was in Sora’s room, and it’s of this cave… that had a lot to do with Kingdom Hearts…” Riku trailed off, not wanting to give the background details to it. “The second one is of Twilight Town, see that clock? It’s like the center of the whole town.”

Yuffie nodded slowly, but still had a confused look to her face.

“Listen, it’s just both these places have a lot of memories to do with Sora and I, and I really don’t want to get into it… but I think they’re trying to lead me to him.” Riku further explained, a light bulb seemed to flicker in Yuffie’s head.

“Ah.” She smiled, “I get it. Who do you think is leaving the pictures?”

“It could either be Sora…” Riku started, “or someone or something else.”

“Well, Mr. Holmes, let me be your Watson.” Yuffie’s smile grew to bear her perfectly straight, white teeth.

“I have no clue what that means.” Riku’s eyebrows furrowed.

“Watson is Mr. Holmes’ sidekick,” Yuffie adjusted her bangs as she said this. “In other words I want to come along on this adventure of yours!”

“Yuffie, I don’t think that’s such a good idea.” Riku sighed as Yuffie’s face immediately fell, “It’s just, I work better alone.”

Which was, at the end of the day, very true. Riku had grown accustomed to working purely alone over the years. Even during the time of Kingdom Hearts, he was alone. Even now, when he studied, he did it alone. During his surgeries, he preferred the help he absolutely needed and nothing more. It wasn’t that it made him unsocial, it was just something he had endured through the years. Sora had always had companions, Riku had darkness and loneliness, and after a certain length of time… Riku didn’t mind being alone so much. It meant not having someone over your shoulder, and it certainly meant not having a companion to worry about. He was sure Yuffie would cause concern in both areas. However, Riku certainly did not know what he would be facing in the coming days, and having his best friend might not be so bad.

The main thing he was concerned with was losing her.

“I’m not weak.” Yuffie stated, “I’m not going to slow you down either. You know I can fight.”

“But I don’t even know what we’re going to be fighting, or if we even have to fight.” Riku drawled, still uncertain. “This could just be an elaborate way of Sora trying to get attention, or he really could be missing and someone else is involved. I just don’t want to get anymore people involved.”

“Everyone who’s ever been touched by Sora is already involved.” A voice said from behind Yuffie. Kairi appeared next to her, placing some of her auburn hair behind one of her ears. “Can’t you tell?”

“What do you mean?”

“Riku…” Kairi started, pausing to think on how to phrase things. “Sora was the hero. He made friends wherever he went. He was people’s hope. As more and more people find out he’s missing, more people are going to get involved, whether you like it or not. Without Sora… it’s like a disruption to the peace. Every single person that he has ever touched has come to love him on some sort of level.”

He couldn’t deny that. It was true. The brunette had always had an effect on people in that way. It didn’t matter where he was or what he was doing, people appreciated everything he did. Sora knew how to make people laugh, how to make them _hope_  again, he knew how to talk to people respectfully, and he knew how to be patient. Those were a few more of the reasons Riku adored him so much. And although Sora had this façade with people, it truly was a sincere one. He was never trying to play some part. It was when he was with Riku that the silver-haired male could feel real, genuine appreciation for always being by the brunette’s side. Sora made him feel like he had a purpose. Sora had always made him feel like he was loved. Sora had always made him feel like he could be happy. And this was different from the treatment everyone else got because Riku once had everything. Riku had the brunette’s affections, intimacy, and trust.

Yet, things were different now.

“Do you recognize these pictures?” Riku asked, taking them from Yuffie’s hand and pressing them into Kairi’s.

The redhead contemplated them for half a minute, looking from one to the other. “That’s the cave, right? And… that’s Twilight Town.”

Riku nodded. He had known Kairi would be the only other person to recognize them, but he also knew she wouldn’t be able to recognize all the pictures if there were more.

“Do you think Sora went to Twilight Town?” Kairi asked, a hint of worry straining her voice. “Or… something took him there?”

“Do you really think I have any answers to these questions?” Riku scrunched his mouth to his nose slightly. “I’m talking to you guys for a reason. I don’t know what to do.”

“Well, I think we should go to Twilight Town.” Yuffie suggested, putting emphasis on the ‘we’.

“Yuffie, you’re not coming with.”

“Why not?” Kairi asked, looking at the silver-haired male. “Riku, you’re always doing things alone. Yuffie could really help.”

“How?”

“What happens when you can’t cover your own back?” The auburn girl smirked, knowing it would be a real ego-buster if Riku ever got caught in such a position.

Riku’s eyes narrowed, “Really… I don’t think we would have to worry about that.”

“Cocky, cocky.” Yuffie rolled her eyes. “C’mon Riku, you can’t ignore my charm.”

“Maybe that’s what I want to get away from?” He teased, relishing in the sad expression casting over Yuffie’s face. She turned away from the door and started to walk sullenly down the hall. Riku sighed and looked to Kairi, her eyes scanning disappointedly over him. He knew he would have to submit to defeat soon. Yuffie had come all this way to support him, and he may as well make her happy for once in their messed up friendship. “Fine…” Riku muttered, when Yuffie didn’t turn, he said it a little louder. “Fine!” Yuffie turned around, trying to hide her smile. “Yuffie… you can come.”

“Yes!” Yuffie yelled out, “I knew you’d cave!”

Riku glared towards his redheaded friend, “This is your fault.”

Kairi smirked, “I’m not sorry.”

* * *

For every person there is that moment in time they will always remember, something in their life they can never forget. For Riku it was coming home, and then it was leaving. It was watching the sunset over the horizon and thinking, ‘what if I’m making a mistake?’ And while he climbed into the gummi ship and watched the dark clouds creeping closer to the island, he couldn’t help thinking the exact same thing again. There was a silent hesitation between the three occupants on the ship, as they took off from the beach into the skyline, the complete opposite direction from Destiny Islands.

Leon, Yuffie, and Riku had said their goodbyes to everyone at Sora’s house, not before receiving numerous hugs and baked goods from Sarah. Kairi smiled meekly as Riku reiterated his promise. The redhead looked anxiously outside the window every few seconds before they left, more than likely worried about the storm.

“Kairi, you know it’s just a normal storm.” Riku reassured her before they left.

“You should know better than anyone that no storm has ever been normal for us.” Kairi muttered, “Every storm promises something different.”

Riku couldn’t help but grasp a form of reality from her words, knowing the likelihood of certain events ever being ‘normal’ rarely were. Things like darkness brought upon fear he couldn’t stand. Something simple like sea-salt ice cream brought upon a strong emotion of nostalgia. Natural wonders like tropical storms brought back memories he wanted to forget. It wasn’t easy being normal, no matter how hard he tried.

And while he wondered what that storm could mean for the islanders, he couldn’t help being extraordinarily worried for Kairi’s safety.

“We’ll make it back,” Yuffie placed her hand on Riku’s shoulder. “With Sora.”

He nodded slowly, not feeling so confident. He was more than certain Sora was alive, their connection still hanging by a thread, Riku had a sense he would’ve felt something if the brunette had been dead. But, the likelihood that something out of the ordinary was the cause for Sora’s disappearance was slowly hitting home.

Sora’s family’s happiness was always the brunette’s main priority, and he would’ve known running away without a word would horribly distress them. Not to mention Kairi; making the redhead worry like this was like Santa not existing. Sora would never intentionally do such a thing. He cared for her far too much.

Riku slowly shut his eyes, listening to the rumble and enjoying the slightly soothing vibrations of the gummi ship as Leon drove it at a much slower pace than the previous day.

“We’ll be in Twilight Town in four hours.” Leon said loudly over the sounds of the ship.

The silver-haired teen found himself falling asleep soon after, the lack of sleep from earlier catching up on him.

“Seriously, how deep of a sleep is this kid in?” Leon asked, having landed the gummi ship four hours later and was trying his hardest to shake Riku awake. He stepped out of the ship, walking towards the raven haired girl.

“You’d think with how loud those damn trains are, he’d already be awake!” Yuffie scowled, glancing at the train station next to the ship. The plateau they were situated on was probably the highest point of the new city. She’d travelled a lot over the years, but she’d never been to Twilight Town. “For a place I’ve never heard of, it sure is bustling.”

“It’s like a metropolis with a rural touch.” Leon agreed, looking across the stone brick plateau towards an alleyway that led into the city. Either side of the alley had tall buildings, and it was hard to distinguish the homes from the business, but he really could care less. He wasn’t staying for long.

“You don’t even get to see the best of it.” Riku yawned, stretching as he stepped down off the gummi ship. “Where’s our bags?”

“Yuffie combined all your necessities into one bag.” Leon answered, pointing to the heavy looking thing situated on the girl’s back.

“Hey, I thought it was smarter that way.” Yuffie argued, tilting slightly at the weight on her back.

“Let me carry it,” Riku offered, extending his arm towards her.

“Pft.” Yuffie scowled, “No way!”

“Your choice.” The silver-haired male shrugged. He looked up to the top of Station Plaza and pulled out the picture in his pocket. The clock tower was the most distinct piece to Twilight Town. It was its own landmark.

Leon said his goodbyes, and soon their aircraft disappeared into the sky. They knew they would have to find a different way of getting to the other worlds, but truly it wasn’t that hard. Riku voted not to take a tour through the train station to show Yuffie around and headed towards the town. His stimulation for finding the time to express how beautiful the city was waned at the consequence for wasting time not finding Sora. He already knew where he wanted to go… past the city… past the stores and through the tiny crack at the edge of the city, then through the forest and passed the large trees, where the abandoned mansion was, where Riku more than the guaranteed the next clue would be.

He tried to think of the quickest way there while Yuffie glanced into the windows attached to the many buildings.

“For such a busy city, there don’t seem to be many people around.” The raven haired girl noticed, “No one’s eating dinner… walking the streets, nothing! Sure is boring…”

Riku tried not to look too alert at this news. He hadn’t even bothered to notice how dead the city was. He thought with all the noise from the trains that people were coming and going just like normal, however as he glanced around… it truly was sort of lifeless in the city. They mulled down a large ramp, the bricks casting paths in two directions. Riku was sure one of them led to where people would be, the other just led to the market…

“Which way?” Yuffie asked, picking up a large ball that was just lying on the pavement. She looked towards the mall where a lonely skateboard lay. “Fuck Riku, it’s like a ghost town. Has it always been like this?”

“No.” Riku said simply, sparing a sideways glance at the skateboard and ball. “Leave that alone.”

She immediately dropped the ball at Riku’s tone, the silver-haired teen’s face going from strained to emotionless in seconds. She couldn’t help but notice, but things were just a little off in the city she thought would be the centre for new acquaintances. By the brief look on Riku’s face, she knew this way not the way they city was supposed to be.

“Riku, what’s going on?”

“We have to keep moving.” Riku stated, walking down the path opposite to the market. Yuffie hurried behind him, figuring more questions and aimless conversation was not on the agenda as Riku’s pace quickened down the alley. He stopped suddenly when the brick path separated again, one way leading down a large hill, the other leading to a place blocked off by a tattered blanket. Riku slowly walked towards it, covering his mouth as dust flew off. He sighed as he walked into the empty room; everything had a thin layer of dust. “The Usual Spot…”

“Hm?” Yuffie asked, holding the torn cloth in her hand as she gazed around the room. “Were you expecting someone to be here?”

“Let’s keep going.” Riku pushed passed her, completely ignoring the question. He practically ran down the large hill and stopped in what looked to Yuffie like a small city park. There was a large elevated round area in the middle, and a few benches around.

“What’s this place?” Yuffie asked, walking up to what looked like a bulletin board.

“People would do these games called Struggle Matches.” Riku answered, Yuffie was happy to not be ignored this time. “We have to go to the Tram Common.”

“Well, lead the way!” Yuffie smiled, she had absolutely no clue where they were going, but he seemed to, so obviously she would follow. “Why do you think there isn’t anyone around?” No answer. She sighed. This was going to be a long adventure with a non-talkative companion.

Yuffie admired the structure of the city, despite how boring it was becoming. The buildings on either side of the alleys were tall and shared neutral colours. It was a little repetitive, but likeably none-the-less. They made it to a large open area, where shops protruded from some buildings. They were colourfully decorated, and yet they were all empty. She sighed; she was truly hoping things would be a little more exciting than this. They made their way passed the stores and across a bridge. She took note to the what-looked-like abandoned trolley car and the paths it would normally follow. Riku stopped at a large crack in the wall at the end of the path, to which Yuffie looked sceptically at. Riku was about to step through when a voice called.

“Hey! What are you two doing here!” A male’s voice exclaimed. Riku and Yuffie turned, the latter pulling a defensive stance.

“ _Relax_.” Riku muttered, as three people ran towards them. The female and male reached them much quicker than their third member, who quickly gave up running to slowly walk towards them.

“Are you going to answer me?” The blonde male asked, his curly hair standing on top of his head. He seemed to look over them both, taking a double take on Riku. It took a few seconds, but something seemed to click in the male’s head. “Woah! You’re Sora’s friend… Riku, right?”

“Hayner, right?” Riku smiled, happy to see real people.

“It’s been a long-time man!” Hayner smiled back. “You remember Olette and Pence?”

“Yeah, definitely.” Riku replied, “I went to see if you guys would be at the Usual Spot, but no luck.”

“Aw, man… we haven’t been there in at least a year. With school, work, partners… it’s hard!” Hayner explained, “The real life gets kind of time consuming.”

Riku nodded. When Sora’s adventure had finished and they had returned home, the brunette had made a goal to visit every person he had met since his mission had started. When they had connected the worlds, Riku went along with him. The visits were truly quick, but to the point. The silver-haired male had enjoyed the interaction Sora had gotten with everyone; it was like he was happy all over again. Too soon after they came home though, things went back to normal. A normality that shouldn’t have even existed.

“How’s Sora?” Olette asked, passing Pence a water bottle as he finally approached.

“Well… things are kind of different since we last saw each other.” Riku frowned, not really interested in explaining.

“Really?” Hayner looked confused. “We just saw him the other day and he said he was going to surprise you for your anniversary.”

The colour drained from Riku’s face. “You guys saw Sora?”

“Yeah… why?” Hayner’s confusion grew.

“Listen… Sora’s missing.” Yuffie finally spoke up, her own astonishment seeking through. She noticed the discomfort that was overcoming Riku. “And Riku and Sora broke up years ago. We’re looking for Sora right now, so we’d really appreciate you telling us whatever he told you.”

Hayner nodded, “He didn’t say much. He seemed to be in a hurry. All he said was he was going to surprise Riku and that it was really important to go and visit that haunted mansion.”

“That’s it?” Riku pressed on.

“I wish I could help you more, but like I said he seemed to be in a hurry.” Hayner looked over Riku sympathetically, “Listen… you know Sora better than anyone. I’m sure you’ll be able to find him.”

Riku couldn’t say a thing. Had Sora really run away on his own accord? Why would he demand all this attention? Everything just wasn’t adding up.

“If it’s any consolation, he really wasn’t acting like himself.” Hayner continued, “He was really distracted by something, and he kept his hands in his pockets… even after running off. He wasn’t very perky either, he seemed really worried.”

“Thanks Hayner, really. You’ve been a lot of help.” Yuffie smiled, breaking the depressing tension that was growing over the group. “By the way, my name’s Yuffie. On another note, what’s with your ghost of a town?”

“Huh?” Hayner titled his head slightly, “Oh! It’s a city-wide holiday… everyone’s at the other district at the beach.”

“We couldn’t afford to go.” Olette sighed, “Like usual.”

Olette, Pence, and Yuffie got into a conversation about work and parents and wishing they could go on more vacations while Hayner walked over to stand next to Riku.

“It’s okay to miss him, y’know.” Hayner whispered. “It’s okay to worry.”

“I’m not worried.” Riku muttered back.

“But you do miss him.” Hayner smiled, “Sometimes it feels like I’m missing something too, like someone I can’t remember.”

The older male looked at him knowingly. He knew who Hayner was talking about.

“But then I think if they were so important, why can’t I remember them?” Hayner continued, “But that doesn’t stop me from missing them. At least you know who you miss, at least you have those memories.”

“Thanks Hayner.”

“No problem.” The blond scratched the back of his head, “It was more like rambling really.”

“Constructive rambling though.” Riku smirked, “but we should really get going.”

“Yeah… we should probably get home soon.” Hayner agreed, looking to Pence and Olette. “Ready to go?”

“Yeah, sure.” Pence and Olette said at the same time. They waved goodbye to one another, Riku turning his attention back to the crack in the wall.

“Is it really haunted?” Yuffie asked suddenly, as Riku crouched to go through.

“No. It’s just a rumour.” He reassured, holding his hand out for Yuffie to take it. She mumbled something under her breath as they were cascaded in darkness by the forest. Yuffie couldn’t help but be intimidated by the tall trees and shadowy path.

“It doesn’t exactly look safe in here.” Yuffie’s only comfort being the light at the end of the path.

“I didn’t realize things were supposed to be safe when you decided to tag along.” Riku said, a hint of annoyance in his tone. Yuffie chose this time to keep her mouth shut with her friend’s mood swings being so random. She followed closely behind him until they were out of the forest and facing a small green grass patch in front of a large gate. Said gate was covered in lengthy grassy vines, stretching around the top of the gate. Riku paused, taking the switchblade he kept in his pocket out and slicing it through the vines.

“Listen, I think I want you to wait out here.” Riku muttered, pushing the gate opened, it creaking loudly with the sudden movement.

“Why?” Yuffie said sullenly, already ready to follow. “What if something goes wrong?”

“I need to do this alone.”

“Fine.”

“Everything will be okay.” Riku smiled, pulling the black haired female against his chest. “Trust me.”

Yuffie nodded, letting Riku go as he made his way through the gate and towards the mansion he hadn’t been to in over half a decade. The cobwebs spread as he opened the large oak doors. The mansion was exactly the way it had been left. Boxes scattered, doors blocked, destroyed walls, and the carpet slightly lifted in some places. He looked to the door to the left, the foyer. He was sure nothing would be there. He didn’t have such an instinct. He looked at the two opposing staircases. The one on the left led to the White Room, the one on the right led to the Library. What he was looking for could be on either side, and for the sake of avoiding the worst memories, he made his way up the staircase on the left towards the White Room.

“Namine’s room…” Riku found himself muttering, another wave of nostalgia coming around.

The room had its name for a reason. From the white walls, to the white curtains, to the white floor, to the white window sills, and to the white table – it matched its name. The only thing that was distinct in the room were the scattered pieces of paper littered on the table, floor, and walls. Each one covered in a layer of dust. Riku picked up each drawing, feeling the onset of sadness coming over him. He tried to ignore looking through them as he delicately laid them on the table. None of them resembled another clue, he knew that much.

He looked to the floor, noticing he had missed a picture. It was in the similar style Namine drew, but he had never seen this one. It was of him and Sora, Riku was wearing his black organization outfit, blindfold still intact. Sora was wearing his regular fighting clothing. He pulled it out from under the table, narrowly ripping it, but not before noticing something that wasn’t white underneath the table. He climbed back under, flipping around onto his back. He smiled, although this truly wasn’t a moment to smile.

He pulled the photo from the tape, and held it in front of him. Sandy hills rolled across the picture, in the distance being a large royal town. Riku couldn’t help but feel like he was getting further and further away from where he needed to go. He pocketed the new clue and walked out of the White Room. At the top of the staircase, he felt a new draft, wind rushed passed him, despite all the windows and doors being closed. A new coldness found its way onto his skin, the chill making Riku shiver. The wind flew passed him down the hall towards the other room Riku had intended to avoid.

But his curiosity was overpowering him, and as another rush of wind made its way passed him, Riku followed. The hallway was dirty and as disoriented as the first floor, and as he reached the door to the Library, the doorknob was ice cold. He knew this probably wasn’t a good idea, but he was already here, why not explore? He slowly opened the door, the cold wind making his hair tousle as he did so. The staircase that led to the basement was already opened, which seemed unusual to Riku, but perhaps Sora had been the one to leave it opened. It just meant less work for the older male.

The further he travelled down the stairs, the colder things got and Riku regretted not wearing something warmer. Passing the demolished computer room and down the dark navy hallway, he desperately tried to ignore the poor memories flooding through him. Soon he was met with the Memory Pod Room, and the temperature must’ve been in the negative. He pushed himself passed Goofy’s and Donald’s, and stopped himself before pressing the large square blue button to access Sora’s chamber.

He shut his eyes as the door slid into the wall, another rush of wind going passed him, and a soft voice whispering…

“ _Riku_.”


End file.
